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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 14, 2015 | 26 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports from the first 18 clubs granted membership in 2013 was surprising because it was among the strongest advocates for the formation of such a league. The club had the largest membership in Canada (12,000 players), success at all levels (eight national and 55 Ontario Cup champions), a history of developing highlevel players (Kara Lang, Diana Matheson and Kyle Bekker) and facilities that few clubs could offer. The club did balk at one requirement for entry into OPDL -- turning over its financial records. The OSC offered to let the OSA's evaluators come to the club to review its books, but it hesitated to turn over the information due to confidentiality concerns. "Meeting the criteria required for entry in the OPDL is a difficult task and requires significant planning, commitment and resources," said OSA president Ron Smale while announcing the four new OPDL members Monday. Harris said he couldn't comment on what changed between the club's original and latest bid, saying the club signed an agreement with the Ontario Soccer Association to not discuss bid details. He said the club is focusing its attention on preparing for entry into the league rather than what happened in the past. "I think it was a very fair process and a decision made by a strong advisory group. We're trying to live without a rearview mirror." Harris said one concern that has been raised about the OPDL is the cost for players to play in the league. "We plan to have the lowest price point in the OPDL," he said. "We want everybody to get the opportunity to play. We don't want the best players not being able to play because of cost." The club will hold tryouts beginning in September for its OPDL teams. by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Oakville Soccer Club to join OPDL by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Two years after being surprisingly excluded from the Ontario Soccer Association's newly-formed high-performance development league, the Oakville Soccer Club has gained entry. The club will begin play in the Ontario Player Development League in 2016 season at the under-13 level with both boys' and girls' teams. It will continue to add teams each year until all levels from under-13 to under-18 are offered. The news, announced Monday, was welcomed by OSC executive director Dave Harris, who said entry into the league will help the club meet its long-term goals. "It helps us achieve one mandate of our strategic plan, to offer opportunities at all elite levels," he said. "It gets us on that Talented Pathway (the OSA's strategic plan for identifying and developing players). We can offer the best training, the best coaching. And when you play against the best teams, you're going to get better." Despite not being part of the first wave of OPDL teams, Harris said there was not an exodus of players, even though neighbouring clubs in Burlington and Hamilton were granted membership. "I think we might have lost one (player) out of both (boys and girls) programs," he said. "It was negligible. I think that's a credit to our technical program. We want to say we're running the best program." The OPDL was formed in 2013 to create a league where the province's best youth players could compete. Clubs must meet strict high-performance training standards as well as meeting organizational and financial criteria. The Oakville Soccer Club's exclusion Cordingley helps Canada make lacrosse history Scott Teeter admits he initially didn't like her chances. Sure, Aurora Cordingley was a talented player, but would the 15-year-old be able to hold her own against players who were already playing college lacrosse? "When you look at the process, the youngsters usually get weeded out. There's definitely a difference physically from an 18 or 19-year-old to a 15-yearold," the coach of Canada's under-19 women's team said. "It has to be a pretty special individual." The more he saw her play, the more Teeter was convinced that this was one of those players. "Aurora is a remarkable athlete and she has a really high lacrosse IQ," he said. "Those are the two attributes the coaches really fell in love with. She earned her way on that team." By playing her way on to the team, Cordingley also played her way into lacrosse history. With a 9-8 victory over the United States in Edinburgh, Scotland, Canada claimed its first-ever world under-19 women's field lacrosse championship. "It was amazing. It's hard to describe. There were just so many emotions," Cordingley said. "It was really cool to win it, especially against the Americans." The United States had held a firm grasp on the world title since 1999, the year Cordingley was born. It had won four world titles in that time and didn't appear intent on surrendering it. The U.S. beat Canada 17-4 in a pre-tournament exhibition game and then outscored the Canadians 8-2 in the second half to win the opening game at worlds, 15-9. But the Canadians showed they would be a contender by upsetting Australia, the only team other than the U.S. to ever play in the final at worlds, 11-10 in double overtime. Cordingley, the only runner under the age of 17 on the Canadian team, earned her first start in a 9-8 triple overtime win over England and then scored her first national team goal in a 12-3 win over Wales, all the while continuing to impress the coaching staff. "She was pretty even keeled. You think, `she hasn't seen this level of competition before'," Teeter said. "But she fought for every ground ball and went hard to the net. It was great to see." Dominant wins over Korea and Scotland set up a semifinal rematch with Australia, which was looking to advance to its sixth straight final. With the game tied 1-1 in the early going, Canada scored nine of the next 10 goals. Cordingley picked up her third goal of the tournament in the 17-3 rout that sent Canada to the final for the first time. Rather than being intimidated by the Americans, Cordingley said the Canadian team had a much different approach. "We were really excited. We felt we had nothing to lose," she said. "It was the first time Canada was in the gold-medal game. We knew we could do it." In an exciting final that saw the lead change hands Aurora Cordingley scored three goals for Canada as it won the world women's under-19 field lacrosse championship in Scotland. Canada beat the U.S., which had held the title since 1999, 9-8 in the final. Cordingley, 15, was the youngest player on the team. | photo courtesy of Canadian Lacrosse Association AIRE ONE MADNEss sAlE! $700 OFF HI-EFFICIENCY CENTRAL AIR $ 29 /mTH OAC* IN O.P.A. REbATE $400 uP TO NOW $ 1990 *Call for details Was $ 2690 DON'T PAY until 2016!* * HI-EffICIENCy AIR CONDITIONERS · Free Installation · 10 Year Factory Warranty CALL NOW, QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED! 9 Locations to serve you better Heating & Cooling www.aireone.com A+ RATING 905-849-4998 1-888-827-2665 five times, Canada overcame a 4-2 deficit, built a 9-7 lead and held off the Americans over the final 10 minutes to claim the gold. Considering her dad, Troy, had a long professional career and now coaches the National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits, it's not surprising that Cordingley was playing the game by the time she was three. She played on boys' teams until she was six but then gravitated toward soccer. When her mom Darlah got involved in starting up the Oakville Lady Hawks' field lacrosse program, she gave the sport another shot. "The first year I tried it and I ended up loving it," she said. That's good, because she's going to be playing for a while. Cordingley, who is going into Grade 11 at the Hill Academy, has already committed to John Hopkins University. And with a world title already under her belt at 15, Cordingley is looking forward to recapturing that feeling. "(Worlds) definitely opened my eyes to the opportunities in lacrosse," she said. "Now I'm excited to go to school and win a championship."